So the phone rings at work at the IT Service Desk at The Client, and the caller reports they've got a leaky ink cartridge on a printer.

J2K: "All right, I'll get a ticket going here. Do you have a make and model on that printer?"
SC: "Nope."
J2K: "...you don't know the make and model?"
SC: "It's all the way at the end of the hall."
J2K: "...okay."

I pause for a minute here to start typing up the ticket.

J2K: "Do you have a printer ID on that printer?"
SC: "Nope."
J2K: "Well, I'm going to need something to identify the printer with so I can tell them which printer they need to check on."
SC: [pause] [sigh] "Let me go check."

She puts the phone down, and I immediately get irritated. The tone she had suggested it was going to be soooo inconvenient for her to get this information. Excuse me, princess, but if I send a ticket up for a printer issue, but don't include any information on where it is or what kind it is, then they'll kick it back to me and demand I get that information out of you.

Fortunately, things got easier, because the SC got in touch with someone who had all of that info for them. She came back with the make and model, AND the serial number, which is notoriously difficult to find on some of the printers at The Client.

She was a lot more pleasant when she got back on the phone. So there was at least a happy ending.

__________________PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

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You know, she was probably pissy and *siiiiggghhhh*-ing because she knew she had no idea where to look for the information you needed. She didn't want to look stupid, so she was trying to make you do a tap dance to get the information yourself.

She came back all pleasant because someone else had the information she needed, so she didn't have to look stupid (it's funny how people prefer to look like a complete ass-in-a-box {which is what is was} rather than just uninformed.)

You're a lot nicer than me. I got out of it that she complained to her boss that they were making her get that info, and her boss pointed out of course they needed it, told her who has it and informed her she better be nice so it doesn't get kicked to the end of the list.

If I had a dime for every time I have got an e-mail that says "My phone doesn't work!" without some basic information like, you know, the extension in question, I wouldn't have to work ever again.

<sigh>

John

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I presume it was a networked printer, so why couldn't she look at the Printer Manager on her PC for that info? Even in our very tied-down SOE environment, that is still visible, at least everything except the serial number.

Bandit - I used to work operating room for many years. You would probably be totally unsurprised by the number of idjits who left high tech medical equipment around with a tag that said 'broken'. No hint or anything as to what was really wrong with it. Sigh. Even worse, those that sent them off to Biomedical to get them fixed with a repair slip that said 'Broken - pls fix'. Yeah, the $200,000 machine that does 40 different things, including going 'Bing!!!' Even better, the stacks of kit (monitor, video camera machine, light source, insufflator, etc on a wheeled stand) marked so we didn't even know which expensive bit was 'broken'.

I had similar experiences with MW for people calling in looking for parts. Usually it was a woman in the 25 - Nearly Dead range that wanted a part for her lawn tractor.

Does she have the part number? Of course not.

Does she have the model number? "And where would I find that in this thick book?" Usually right on the cover, Ma'am. "But I don't see it!" Sorry then princess, it's under the seat of the tractor. "I'm not going out there to look for it! It's DIIIRRRRTTTYYY! You should have in the system, I bought it there!" Umm.. you bought it at the store, not with us and your phone number brings up nada.

If luck struck us and she had the number, the next question would be the killer, Do you know what part it is? "It's the thing that connects to the thing! Hubby said you'd know what it was by description and he's not hhhhhheeeeeerrrrreee right now!" Seriously, the description was, "Thing that attaches/connect to thing." That's not a description, that's a guess so wild that it flew off before she even got to the phone.

And yes, everything was whine this or sigh that. Look, if I was mind-reader, I wouldn't be here. I'd probably be in a coma, having tried to read the vacuous minds of some of the people around here!

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